


Integrity, Faith and Crocodile Tears

by northblossom



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: "i didn't do anything weird last night right?", Angst, Childhood Friends, Drunk Serenading, Drunk confessions, Enjolras is famous, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Smut, Oblivious, Reunions, Slow Burn, Very Sorry About That, and that is the hill i will die on, at some point there is only one bed, enjolras is completely blind to emotion, grantaire is a trained swing dancer, grantaire is the tallest in this, i just can't stand writing smut, i know it's very unusual for a les mis fic, my friend said “when in doubt use song lyrics” and honestly amy i agree, no one dies either, no revolutions unfortunately, singer!enjolras, sue me!, wbk though, yeah i knew that'd get you hooked, yup the title is imagine dragons lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:26:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23363167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northblossom/pseuds/northblossom
Summary: The day Enjolras leaves his small town (and his best friend Grantaire) to go to Paris and become a singer, his whole life changes. When he meets Grantaire in Paris years later, however, things look like they've gotten a little more... complicated.
Relationships: Combeferre/Courfeyrac (Les Misérables), Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Misérables), Enjolras/Marius Pontmercy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Integrity, Faith and Crocodile Tears

**Author's Note:**

> hi, i'm back on my bullshit! hope you enjoy xxx

In a fairly small town, a fairly small boy sat still on his fairly small bed with a letter in his shivering hands. It was an official looking letter from a company called ABC Entertainment, addressed to one Adrien Enjolras. 

“You’re gonna open it  _ today _ , yeah?” this Enjolras’ best friend, Grantaire, urged impatiently. The two sat in a small boy’s room on the second floor of a ridiculously tiny house. From Enjolras’ room, he could see all the way to the beach, but only if he leant as far out of the window as he could without falling into the flowerbed below.

“I just might, if you stop nagging,” replied Enjolras, laughing nervously. 

He read his own name on the envelope once more to make sure it hadn’t gotten mixed up with someone else’s mail. Enjolras took a deep breath and opened the letter. Carefully, and with shaking hands, he pulled a folded sheet of paper with text on it out. He handed the empty envelope to Grantaire, who gladly took it to look at it more closely. 

“What’s it say?” asked the dark haired boy. 

“Dear Adrien Enjolras,” Enjolras read. Grantaire was already at the edge of his seat. “We are happy to announce that we are willing to offer you a position at ABC Entertainment…?” He read the paragraph, his disbelief growing for each word. Enjolras shook his head, nervously laughing again. “This can’t be right.”

Grantaire was having none of it. He snatched the letter out of Enjolras’s hands, and held it up to read it.

“You’ve been… scouted? Hear that, Enjolras? By one of our talent agents…” Grantaire shook his head and continued reading. His eyes widened. “... breakthrough within a year?” 

Enjolras froze. The words “scouted” and “breakthrough” were enough to make Enjolras understand one thing: it was an opportunity. An opportunity to get out and away, get a different life. To finally have more money than just enough to cut it. To do something that he liked to do, something he was good at, and be able to make a living out of it someday. If his voice could give him that, maybe it’d be worth it.

Besides, it was way too small of a town. Far too little to hold a gay kid, his maybe gay best friend and tons of conservative old people at the same time.

Deep down, Enjolras was frightened by the words. Mostly because he had no clue what to do with the opportunity. No clue what he had the  _ guts _ to do. No idea how far he was willing to go.

Grantaire seemed excited, though. 

“There’s a phone number at the bottom. The letter says to call if you’re interested. Where’s your phone? You can borrow mine if you want!” Grantaire was talking at the speed of sound while practically shaking Enjolras by his shoulders. 

“Woah, woah, slow down.” Enjolras took Grantaire’s hands and removed them from his own shoulders. “I’m not calling in. Not today, anyway.”

The younger boy took the letter from Grantaire and folded it neatly, placing it in the very back of his bedside drawer. He closed it and locked it, putting the key in his pocket. “Wanna go for a walk?” he asked. Grantaire was floored, but he was happy to go for a walk either way. 

“Do you not want to go?” Grantaire asked as the two reached the beach. It was a pretty evening, warm enough for them not to freeze without jackets, and cold enough for them to be grateful they wore big knit sweaters. The wind blew in the trees, and small waves “Over to Paris, I mean, to that agency.”

“I’m not sure,” Enjolras answered simply.

“D’ya think the scout … well … scouted you at church when you sang that time?” asked the taller boy.

Enjolras raised his eyebrows and nodded, realising that was pretty likely. He’d sung a couple songs on Christmas Eve in church, and in his head he’d done pretty well. 

“Talent scouting in a church on Christmas Eve…” 

“Yeah,” Grantaire chuckled. “Letter said the agency guaranteed a breakthrough within the year. Almost too good to be true.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Grantaire insisted. “And become a superstar.” 

“Right,” Enjolras chuckled. He thought about it for a while. “I don’t know if that’s me, you know.”

“Oh, sure it is!” Grantaire playfully punched his shoulder. “Come on, you have an  _ amazing _ voice. Serious talent.” He looked at Enjolras for confirmation, and Enjolras didn’t deny it.

“Besides, I know you want to get outta here.”

Grantaire was right. There was nothing Enjolras wanted more than to get out and see something else.

“You’re right, and…” he paused for a second. What he wanted to say sounded incredibly stupid in his head. “I want to sing for a living. That’d be great. I just-” 

Grantaire cut him off. “You just?”

“I feel like there’s a thousand steps I’m skipping,” Enjolras sighed.

“And so what if you’re skipping a couple of steps?” Grantaire threw his hands up in the air. “You’re the king of skipping steps, mate. You could read when you were, like, three. You taught me how to spell and I’m older than you.”

Enjolras chuckled. 

“I might call in. I might.” Enjolras left the statement up for interpretation. 

A few weeks later, Enjolras sat still on his bed in that tiny boy’s room with his phone in his shivering hands. Grantaire wasn’t there this time. Normally, Enjolras would’ve called his friend over for moral support, but he wanted to do this alone. He typed in the number from his letter. Ignoring the voice in his head that told him to come to his senses, he pressed the final button and held his phone up to his ear.

“Hello, this is ABC Entertainment,” said the voice at the other end. It sounded like a woman speaking, a woman who took her job of answering phone calls  _ very _ seriously.

“Hi, hello, uh… this is Adrien Enjolras, ma’am, I was told to call this number-”

“Yes, good evening, Mr. Enjolras, we’ve been expecting your call.” 

Enjolras raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t recall ever being referred to as  _ Mr _ . Enjolras before. 

“You’re calling regarding the letter, yes? Our offer to you is still open,” stated the woman. Enjolras sat in silence for a little. 

“Yes. I’d like to join your agency, if you’ll have me.”

Enjolras took notes as the woman spoke, and when she hung up, the heavy feeling of confusion in his chest he’d had the past weeks was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a feeling of excitement and curiosity for what was to come. Deep down, he was also dreading the moment he’d have to say goodbye to Grantaire, but he didn’t want to admit that. He needed to talk to someone about the decision he’d made, so he sent Grantaire a message. All it took was five minutes’ time before Enjolras heard the familiar ringing of the bell on Grantaire’s bicycle outside his window.

“Tell me  _ everything _ ,” Grantaire insisted as he sat cross legged on the carpet in Enjolras’s room.

“Well, there’s not much more than what we already know,” Enjolras shrugged, wondering why he felt so indifferent to the whole thing. He told himself he should be happier about it and put on a smile.

“You’re doing that thing, ‘Pollo,” Grantaire said, tilting his head to the side. He’d brought back their old nickname. That meant he meant business. “I can tell you’re fake smiling, you know. Aren’t you excited?”

“I really am, I just…” He stopped, looking at Grantaire for confirmation. “I feel like I don’t deserve the chance, maybe. I’m scared I’ll back out-”

“Wait, stop, hold on,” Grantaire cut him off. “You don’t deserve it? Come  _ on _ , you have the best voice I’ve ever heard-”

“Listen, Grantaire, I might have an alright voice, but that doesn’t mean I’m fit to be, well, an artist!” He kept his voice down, not wanting to let his mom know about his plan to go to Paris just yet. “In my opinion, you, or even Ferre, maybe, deserve this letter more than me.”

“What, me? Why’d you say that?” Grantaire asked, floored.

“For one, you sing well. And don’t try to act modest, now. You have a great voice-” 

“And so do you,” Grantaire cut him off.

“That’s besides the point,” Enjolras sneered, half annoyed and half amused. He playfully slapped Grantaire’s shoulder.

“As I said, you sing well, and you’re a crazy good dancer,” he continued, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Only swing,” Grantaire corrected with a smile.

“Close enough! And in addition to that, you’re more charismatic than I am.”

“Not true at all, I’m just more approachable. You look ready for murder all the time because you forget to smile, you dork.” 

Enjolras blushed.

“You shouldn’t worry about it, mate. I’m sure you’ll be a great artist.” Grantaire smiled softly, and decided to ask the question he’d been dreading. “When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow,” Enjolras answered curtly as if it was the easiest thing in the world to say. It wasn’t. He swallowed at the thought of leaving his hometown - and his best friend in the world - for something so different.

“Ah,” was all Grantaire could reply to that.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Enjolras said quietly.

“You couldn’t have, mate, you got this information half an hour ago,” Grantaire joked, trying to lighten his own mood. He was glad that Enjolras was getting out and chasing something better, however he felt sort of displeased about it when he realised he’d be losing his best friend - for a long time, at least.

Enjolras looked at Grantaire in silence for a long time, trying to figure out what the taller boy might be thinking about. He looked troubled, worried almost. It wasn’t a familiar look on him, and a part of Enjolras felt worried because Grantaire looked so unhappy.

“You look worried,” Enjolras stated.

“I am,” Grantaire replied. Enjolras thought he’d have to ask another question to get more information out of his friend, but Grantaire made it easy. “I’m gonna miss you. That’s what worries me,” he continued. “That, and…” Grantaire stopped himself.

“That and what?”

“Someone might hurt you,” Grantaire replied. Deep down, he was afraid that he might come off as overprotective, but he only wanted to make sure his friend was prepared. Enjolras scoffed.

“Why would anyone want to hurt me, R-” 

“You know why,” Grantaire cut him off. Enjolras was quiet for a few seconds as he understood what he meant.

“What, because I’m gay?” Enjolras crossed his arms over his chest. He’d always liked how protective Grantaire was, but he wasn’t all too fond of it now.

“You know what people are like here. I’ve always thought people from the big city would be worse, I don’t know.” Grantaire looked at Enjolras, and he could see that shorter boy wasn’t all too happy about Grantaire worrying. “Besides, you’re gonna be in the spotlight all the time. Trying to keep it hidden - it’ll be like treading on eggshells.”

“Egg shells, huh?” Enjolras wasn’t impressed at all. He had a tendency to get like that - defensive and irritated - when his choices and his logic were questioned. The stress about moving on to something unknown wasn’t making anything easier for him. 

“At least that’s what I read. That that’s what it’s like.” Grantaire crossed his arms.

“Righto.”

“Listen,” said the dark haired boy. “I want you to do this. I want you to go get something better, but I want you to know what you’re getting into.”

Enjolras sighed and lay down on the bed. “I’m not a weakling. I’ll be able to stand up for myself if anyone tries anything,” he said. If there was anything he hated, it was being treated as if he wouldn’t be fine on his own.

“I know you will,” Grantaire said defeatedly, and that was the end of the discussion.

For the first few minutes after waking up the next day, Grantaire thought that everything was ordinary. It was almost like he’d forgotten about everything. He got dressed, brushed his teeth, fixed his hair. It was only when he looked outside and spotted his weathered scrap heap of a bike leant up against the garage, that he remembered what was happening that morning.

“Right,” he mumbled to himself with a sigh. He looked in the mirror once more and headed down the stairs. In truth, he was not at all looking forward to the events that were going to follow. If there was one thing he hated, it was goodbyes. He smiled, however, and pushed the difficult feelings away. 

“I’m headed out,” said Grantaire to his sister as soon as he’d entered the kitchen.

“Already?” asked Brigitte, his older sister. She sat by the kitchen table, drinking soda and reading a book. “Don’t you want breakfast?”

“Haven’t got time,” Grantaire answered. He grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the kitchen counter and held it up to show his sister. She gave him thumbs-up in return. 

“Got plans?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” Grantaire replied. “Meeting up with some friends,” he said. A half truth.

Brigitte raised an eyebrow. She could tell something was off about the way Grantaire was acting, since he was way more short-spoken than usual, but she decided not to sweat it. Brigitte had always found herself spending a lot of time with her little brother, so she knew him too well to worry. He wasn’t a brat who got into trouble. If there was something else bothering him, Brigitte knew he’d tell her in time. He always did.

“Okay, have fun, then,” she said with a big smile. 

Grantaire smiled, put on his shoes and left the house. He grabbed his bike and made his way to the train station to meet Enjolras.

Grantaire parked his bike by the train station and looked around for his friend, thinking he should be there by now. He looked for a small, scrawny blonde with a suitcase, but he couldn’t see anyone who fit that description. 

“Boo,” said a quiet, ringing voice behind Grantaire. The tall boy turned around, clutching his chest as if he’d just had a heart attack.

“You little-” Grantaire shook his head and smiled. He ruffled Enjolras’s hair fondly. “Scared me there, shortie.”

Enjolras grinned. “I could tell from the way you just jumped five meters into the air.”

Grantaire scratched the back of his head and sighed. On to more pressing matters.

“When’s your train leaving?”

Enjolras checked the time, squinting. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, like always.

“In ten minutes,” Enjolras replied curtly, holding up his ticket. He wasn’t any more fond of goodbyes than what Grantaire was. 

“Right…” Grantaire ruffled his friend’s hair. “Did you get any sleep?”

“Not really.”

“Nervous?”

Enjolras looked up. “Duh.”

The two boys stood there and talked for a while. There was something between them that hadn’t been there before, and it felt more like a fear to let go than anything else. Grantaire felt his eyes get blank as the train rolled in next to the platform, but he told himself that he was absolutely not, under any circumstance going to cry. He pasted on a smile and looked at the train.

“That’ll be yours, yeah?” asked the taller boy.

“Yeah.”

“Make sure to get enough sleep,” Grantaire said, almost worriedly. He knew Enjolras had always overworked himself in school, and he imagined this would be much worse.

“I will.”

“And make sure you eat enough.”

Enjolras pulled Grantaire into a tight hug to shut him up. “I’ll be fine, R.”

Grantaire took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Enjolras, reluctant to let go. He knew very well that his friend could take care of himself, but he felt like he’d be missing out on so much, sending his small friend out in the world like this. “I’m going to miss you,” said the taller boy. He didn’t know how else to describe the way he was feeling.

“I’m going to miss you more,” replied Enjolras. He pulled himself out of the hug and hoisted his suitcase up inside the train. 

The boy had noticed his friend’s eyes getting blanker, and it was making Enjolras’s eyes blank too. The last thing he wanted was for Grantaire to start crying - if he did, that’d make Enjolras cry. And Enjolras did not like crying. So he did his best to lighten Grantaire’s mood.

“But your sister most of all. Tell her I said hi, will ya?” Enjolras winked playfully at Grantaire.

Grantaire shook his head and grinned. “You rascal. You’re not fooling anyone!” he laughed, reaching over to ruffle Enjolras’s hair. The loud noise of the doors starting to close startled him, though, so he pulled his hand back. 

Enjolras quickly jumped onto the train. “See you very soon,” he said, thinking it was a promise.

“Take care!” Grantaire said, and then the doors shut. He waved at his best friend with tears in his eyes as the train rolled out of the station the opposite way it came in. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! the real slowburn will be found in my rare ass upload habits... bookmark this to get a notification about a new chapter once in a blue moon.  
> in all seriousness i hope you enjoyed!! see you next time around :))


End file.
